There are new buzzwords, according to Google’s Keyword Planner, that are getting a heavy amount of attention. Words like “SARMs” and “Ostarine” are getting up to 100,000 searches per month, according to the search engine giant. They join words like “protein,” which gets a healthy, whopping, nearly one million searches per month. That’s because folks are looking beyond things like adding protein to their diets via fish, chicken, and other meats — along with protein drinks — and cutting carbs, sugar and unhealthy fats in order to get the cut and lean look of Joakim Noah of the New York Knicks, as seen above. It turns out Joakim didn’t get that look totally from imbibing protein drinks. Instead, Noah faced a 20-game suspension with no pay because of LGD-4033, which is a SARM.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the SARM, which stands for Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator, was discovered in Noah’s system. According to Google, LGD-4033 gets up to 100,000 searches per month. SARMs are a hot buzzword because online forums for bodybuilders call SARMs something similar to steroids, but aren’t steroids. SARMs have fewer steroid-related side effects.

[Image by Nam Y. Huh/AP Images]

On Instagram, the #SARMs hashtag currently contains 15,391 posts. Photos and videos of muscled people seem to suggest that SARMs do everything they promise, with the LGD-4033 supplement and other SARMS concoctions promising no ill side effects, except for the S4 SARM that has been linked to vision problems, as reported by Maxim. The publication notes that gym rats are taking SARMs like LGD 4033 and Ostarine, using themselves as human guinea pigs to see what types of muscle gains they can make, all the while cutting fat and praying for no side effects. Fitness people are willing to make themselves long-term study participants and praying for the best.

What are SARMs?

Like the name suggests, SARM select certain androgen receptors or NR3C4, to have an effect upon the androgenic hormones, testosterone, or dihydrotestosterone. Research on SARMs begins to get into the complex makeup of the body, and publications like Tiger Fitness have written about the potential drawbacks of SARMs.

The government reported on at least one study on Ostarine with no side effects reported that has been used as the basis for many glowing reports about SARMs. As noted in the study, it was more than 10 years ago when 60 elderly men and women were given Ostarine and their lean body mass increased.

“GTx, Inc. reported in December 2006 the results of this clinical trial, which was a double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in sixty elderly men and sixty postmenopausal women [Dalton, 2007a; Dalton, 2007b]. Without a prescribed diet or exercise regimen, all subjects treated with OstarineTMhad a dose-dependent increase in total LBM, with the 3 mg/day cohort achieving an increase of 1.3 kg compared to baseline and 1.4 kg compared to placebo after 3 months of treatment. Treatment with OstarineTM also resulted in a dose-dependent improvement in functional performance measured by a stair climb test, with the 3 mg/day cohort achieving clinically significant improvement in speed and power. Interestingly, subjects treated with 3 mg/d of OstarineTM had on average an 11 percent decline in fasting blood glucose, a 17% reduction in insulin levels, and a 27% reduction in insulin resistance (homeostasis model assessment) as compared to baseline, suggesting that SARMs might have therapeutic potential in diabetics or people at risk for diabetes.”

Overall, people are searching for the truth about SARMs through reviews from real users, which proliferate YouTube and other social media platforms talking about using SARMs on “rats” and “bunnies,” since the experts aren’t allowed to recommend SARMs usage for people. The SARMS that were discovered via pharmaceutical research to help cancer patients and others grow muscles or prevent them from wasting away has moved into the fitness world.

[Image by Nam Y. Huh/AP Images]

People share news about the Ostarine dosages they’ve tried via certain four-week or six-week or eight-week and even 12-week runs they’ve done on themselves or their fitness clients, seeking that holy grail combination of cutting fat while gaining muscle for a chiseled and lean look. The SARMS for fat loss seems apparent for some who’ve reported sweating more on SARMs and breaking through their personal limits of weightlifting.

SARMS for weight loss and the side effects are still being documented by those online searching for how to take SARMS and the proper and effective dosages. Reportedly, some women do well on SARMs, without all the research of any long term effects known at this point. However, bodybuilding folks are feeling brave enough to take the risk based on the logs about SARMs already published. Since some steroids have been known to cause unwanted side effects, like hair loss, deeper voices, and effects upon libido or sexual performance, SARMs has become the hot new thing that may not make users suffer the same things.

The truth about SARMs, when to take them and their overall effectiveness will be known over time. SARMs are being sold in various online markets, with complaints about some supplement makers sneaking SARM ingredients in supplements unbeknownst to those taking them.